Portrait of Robert Skidelsky

Birthday profile

Robert Skidelsky

Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic

Born
April 25, 1939
Age in 2026
87
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1939

About Robert Skidelsky

Robert Jacob Alexander Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, is a British economic historian, author, and crossbench life peer in the House of Lords. He is best known for his award-winning three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, regarded as the definitive study of the economist's life and work. Educated at Jesus College, Oxford, he has held academic posts in history and political economy at several universities and is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. Beyond academia, Skidelsky has been influential in British public policy debates, serving as the founding chairman of the Social Market Foundation and writing extensively on economics, fiscal policy, and the political implications of technological change. When war broke out between Britain and Japan in December 1941, Skidelsky and his parents were interned first in Manchuria then in Japan, and were finally released in exchange for Japanese internees in England. On 15 July 1991 he was created a life peer as Baron Skidelsky of Tilton in the County of East Sussex. In 1967 he published his first book, Politicians and the Slump, based on his DPhil dissertation, which explores the ways in which British politicians handled the Great Depression.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Robert Skidelsky timeline

  1. When war broke out between Britain and Japan in December 1941, Skidelsky and his parents were interned first in Manchuria then in Japan, and were finally released in exchange for Japanese internees in England.
  2. In 1967 he published his first book, Politicians and the Slump, based on his DPhil dissertation, which explores the ways in which British politicians handled the Great Depression.
  3. On 15 July 1991 he was created a life peer as Baron Skidelsky of Tilton in the County of East Sussex.

The world when Robert Skidelsky was born

Robert Skidelsky was born in 1939. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1939

  • #1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
  • Top movieGone with the Wind
  • Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
  • Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
  • Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
  • Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
  • Notable inventionNylon stockings
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Robert Skidelsky's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19392026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population130.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.